The true cost of a budget cap in Formula 1

Bernie Ecclestone's suggestion this week of resurrecting a budget cap for F1 comes at a time when the cost of the sport - and its place within a new Concorde Agreement is a hot topic for many. Dieter Rencken analyses the situation

As this is written, exactly three years have passed since the Max Mosley-led FIA World Motorsport Council approved the concept of a budget cap for Formula 1, in the process hoping to force the then 10 teams to reduce expenditure by offering them the opportunity of signing up to a voluntary £30million annual cap in exchange for greater technical freedoms than others.

At the time the governing body stated: 'These regulations will not affect the established teams which now have stable backing from [five] major car manufacturers, but will enable new teams to fill existing vacancies on the grid for 2010, and make it less likely that any team will be forced to leave the championship'.